“Fast X” Finds Its X-Factor In Jason Mamoa

“Dom Toretto and his family are targeted by the vengeful son of drug kingpin Hernan Reyes.”

Director: Louis Leterrier
Writers: Dan Mazeau, Justin Lin, Zach Dean, Gary Scott Thompson
Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Statham, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Nathalie Emmanuel, Charlize Theron, John Cena, Sung Kang, Helen Mirren, Brie Larson, Scott Eastwood, Jason Mamoa, Alan Ritchson, Luis Da Silva Jr., Daniela Melchoir, Leo Abelo Perry, Jason Statham, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Gal Gadot
Release Date: May 19, 2023
IMDB

Best do a Wikipedia deep dive on Fast Five (2011) because the plot of Fast X (2023) connects directly to it.

Guess what? The family is in trouble again. And this time, from the devil himself.

Dante is the crazed son of Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), who Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and company dispatched in a previous Rio De Janeiro adventure. Dante uses fear as a tactic to gather an army of nameless and faceless men with the sole purpose of tormenting Toretto & his extended family.

Anyone who is related to Dominic (either as family, friend or foe) is a target. The entire crew, both old and new, travel around the globe trying to survive as a long-haired Joker inspired fanatic blows everything up he can. Dominic looks to confront Dante and settle the score, but it is never easy with family.

There is one man to thank for the relative success of Fast X. All hail Jason Mamoa. All hail the real life Aquaman. Donned only in one color at a time, Mamoa takes on the much needed part of acknowledging how insane everything is. Dante is a mad-man, but he is also the smartest one in the movie. He actually has more awareness about the movie environment he is in than anyone else. Mamoa plays this character with the perfect amount of unhingedness (wow, I did not think that was a word).

Jason Mamoa as Dante is who I was rooting for in Fast X. Everything with him is far better than anything without him.

And listen, while talking about the charismatic bad boys, I have to give a shoutout to Alan Ritchson. The man is probably still most well known for Thad Castle, but I am all about this man’s hype train. Ritchson is awesome in the TV Show Reacher, and dammit he is great in Fast X too. He has the correct over-the-top macho tone for the Fast franchise.

I think I am about to make the most insane statement.

I wouldn’t mind Alan Ritchson having a Sylvester Stallone career. I’d like that.

I may be insane for my Alan Ritchson love, but I am nowhere near as delusional as Fast X. This movie doesn’t understand the logic of time or space. Characters are bouncing across continents and oceans in less than the blink of an eye. Rationality and physics are not in the dictionary when it comes to the Torettos. The more absurd the gravity-defying stunt, the better.

One must have the lowest limits for suspension of disbelief In order to take Fast X for what it is meant to be. In order for movies to get away with the absurdity, you need to make the audience buy-in to different aspects of your movie. Thankfully Fast X has a great villain to help make the ridiculous chaos passable.

But make no bones about it, the ending to Fast X is trash. There is no real ending. There is no resolution whatsoever. The final chase scene ends up having no purpose because we have no idea how it ends. Then there is the post credit scene, which just makes me sad. Do I think the franchise will benefit from having this certain character back? Yes. Do I think that the actor playing this returning character is acknowledging that he needs to bend the knee? For sure. Do I think this cast needs to slim down for the sake of the franchise’s benefit? I have zero doubts about it.

Fast & Furious 11 had been reported to be the last film of the franchise, so leaving an open-ended story is a nice way to precede what’s sure to be a major 2.5 hour bombastic conclusion. But you still need to have something to hang your hat on. We are meant to care about a certain character “dying” that we have known for two movies? We are meant to care for this boy, because his name is Brian?

That last question is going to make people angry, but that is my honest take. I don’t like the character of Dominic Torretto, and I don’t have the connection to the franchise many do. I watch it for an escape. I have no familial obligation to connect with the mass of forgettable characters.

The Fast & The Furious franchise has jumped the shark. It has gone past the point of no return, and there is honestly no way of saving it. But Fast X makes the most of the franchise’s decision to lean into the absurdity. Mamoa does 95% of the heavy lifting, thankfully he is strong enough to do it.

Fast X is streaming on Peacock.

STANKO RATING: C-

The last time I wrote about The Fast & Furious film franchise, I sorta got skewered by the Reddit page. It was literally the moment I vowed to never read the comments. I feel like people who put out stuff for public consumption have the moment.

Now that I have seen Fast X, I can insert it into my rankings. Like I mentioned, the movie surprised me in terms of entertainment value. It surpasses a couple of the more recent releases both in its structure and popcorn flare.

Fast & Furious Movies Ranked

11. F9: The Fast Saga (2021)

10 The Fate Of The Furious (2017)

9. 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

8. Fast & Furious (2009)

7. Fast X (2023)

6. The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

5. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)

4. Fast Five (2011)

3. Furious 7 (2015)

2. Fast & Furious 6 (2023)

1. The Fast And The Furious (2001)

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